Local business keeps craft of neon sign-making alive

FORT WALTON BEACH — For 30 years, Chaz Watkins has been lighting up the sky around the world with his neon signs and designs.

Now he’s focused on bringing his talent to Northwest Florida.

Watkins has created neon signs for other companies for years, even doing work for AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar and the Okaloosa County School District. About five months ago, Watkins struck out on his own and started Memphis Sign Company, named after his hometown, on Hollywood Boulevard.

“Neon was just totally interesting for me, and I have general electrician (experience), designing, building and selling everything,” Watkins said. “I just loved it.

“I’m like your typical sign company. I don’t even have a sign up right now,” he added.

Watkins began working with neon signs in 1982 at Ace Neon in Clearwater, where he learned how to manipulate the gas and glass to make signs of various sizes, shapes and colors. Watkins learned his craft — a combination of art, science and engineering — from an old sign maker who had been in the business for decades.

“That’s where I got all of my training,” Watkins said. “I learned how to do everything properly.”

Watkins said the science behind making the neon signs — pumping the rare element in very precise measurements into the luminous tubes — has been relatively unchanged since the 1920s. However, competition in recent years has definitely changed the industry.

“The neon business in general has gone down significantly in the last 10 years because of the invention of LEDs, but neon will last 30 years,” Watkins said. “With LEDs, you get 10 or 11 years if you’re lucky.”

Watkins has designed pieces for Everything Bird on Eglin Parkway, Dennis & Company in downtown Fort Walton Beach and Baker Auto Parts in Baker.

The Memphis Sign Company currently is working on a large project for one of Cash Moore’s nightclubs that will feature neon lights that blink and animate with the music.

“When I get a chance to do something really artsy, I’ll do it in a heartbeat,” Watkins said.